Mechanisms and Early Warning Strategies of Geotechnical Disasters

Book excerpt: Since the beginning of the 21st century, global environmental problems have become increasingly prominent, and extreme weather events have become more frequent. The irrational development and excessive construction of underground space have also led to various disasters, such as landslides, collapses, debris flows, and ground collapses. According to the data released in the National Geological Disaster Bulletin, 133899 geological disasters have occurred in China from 2009 to 2019, of which landslides accounted for 71%, collapses for 19%, and debris flows for 8%, and ground collapses for 2%. The number of casualties and economic losses caused by rock and soil disasters are the greatest in the world. Therefore, a good understanding of disaster-causing mechanisms of rock and soil has a strong theoretical and practical significance for the safe construction of diversified geotechnical projects.